Shooting claims another Bridgeport victim

Brittany Lyte

Updated 2:57 pm, Friday, August 3, 2012

Bridgeport police comfort a man who came to the scene of the homicide of Gary Gullap, 17, on Hallett and Ogden Streets in Bridgeport, Conn. on Thursday August 2, 2012. The homicide is the city's 15th this year and fourth in less than two weeks.
Photo: Christian Abraham

A Bridgeport police detective points to a bullet casing as they investigate the homicide of Gary Gullap, 17, on Hallett and Ogden Streets in Bridgeport, Conn. on Thursday August 2, 2012.
Photo: Christian Abraham

A shooting victim is being prepared for transport to the hospital as Bridgeport police investigate the homicide of Gary Gullap, 17, on Hallett and Ogden Streets in Bridgeport, Conn. on Thursday August 2, 2012.
Photo: Christian Abraham

One of two shooting victims who was injured is being prepared for transport to the hospital as Bridgeport police investigate the homicide of Gary Gullap, 17, on Hallett and Ogden Streets in Bridgeport, Conn. on Thursday August 2, 2012.
Photo: Christian Abraham

A Bridgeport Police K-9 searches the Greene Homes, in Bridgeport, Conn. Aug. 2nd, 2012, where police found a minivan used during the fatal shooting of Gary Gullap, 17, on Hallet Street earlier in the afternoon.
Photo: Ned Gerard

Gary Gullap, 17, was killed and another was transported to Bridgeport Hospital with a serious leg wound after a shooting on Thursday, August 2, 2012 on the city's East Side, police said.
Photo: Ned Gerard

BRIDGEPORT -- Three days after city officials adopted a nighttime curfew meant to keep teens home and safe from gun violence, two young men were shot -- one fatally -- on the city's East Side Thursday afternoon in what one police officer described as a situation that has become "a horrible, familiar scene."

The brazen daylight shooting left one victim lying on the sidewalk, dead before police arrived. The other victim was rushed to Bridgeport Hospital with a serious gunshot wound, police said.

Bridgeport Police Detective Keith Bryant, a department spokesman, said police believe both victims were teenagers, though neither was identified by name. But youth across the city took to social media as news of the shooting spread and tweeted tributes to the homicide victim, whom they identified as 17-year-old Gary Gullap.

The homicide, the city's 15th this year, is the latest in a spree of killings of youngsters. Less than two weeks ago, 15-year-old Keijahnae "Nu Nu" Robinson was shot in the head while sitting on her aunt's front porch on Brooks Street. In January, 14-year-old Justin Thompson was shot and killed while walking on Seaview Avenue on his way home from a sweet 16 party. Both the shootings sparked rallies and marches with residents taking to the streets to plead for an end to the violence. After the Thompson shooting, city council members proposed a curfew. The curfew bans anyone under 18 from being out in public without a parent or legal guardian between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and between midnight and 6 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Robinson and Thompson were killed during the early morning hours. But the city's latest homicide victim was gunned down in the middle of a hot summer day.

The shooting happened about 3:30 p.m. near the intersection of Hallett and Arctic streets. Emergency dispatches indicated police were looking for a gray Toyota minivan in connection with the incident. A van matching the description was found about 3:45 p.m. at the Greene Homes public housing project. Police traced the license plates to a van that was reported stolen in Darien.

Mayor Bill Finch and Police Chief Joseph Gaudett reiterated their call for measures that will stem the use of illegal guns in a joint statement made available by Finch's communications director, Elaine Ficarra.

"The chief and his officers are doing everything they can to tackle this problem, and it's clear we need to work harder to curtail the spread of illegal guns,'' the statement said. "We need everyone's assistance in the community to do more. We need you to reach out to our young people and engage them in productive activities before they make choices which will they will then spend a lifetime regretting."

Meanwhile, on the street near where the victim's body lay under a sheet Thursday afternoon, community members took in the scene.

Holding her toddler by the hand, a mother approached the yellow police tape blocking off Hallett Street Thursday afternoon. She had left beans and rice on the stove in her home down the road to find out what happened.

"It's a horrible, familiar scene," said a police officer on the other side of the tape.

"I just feel so bad," said the woman, looking past the cop at the blood-stained sheet on the sidewalk behind him. "It makes me want to leave this city."

Turning to her daughter, she said, "Because I was shot, you know, when I was 12. But I was OK."

"Right here, mommy?" asked the child, pointing up at her mother's left cheek.